Despite the hype that inevitably clings to the newfangled, however, it’s relatively antique tech that appears to be far more important for selling stuff online. A new report from marketing data outfit Custora found that over the past four years, online retailers have quadrupled the rate of customers acquired through email to nearly 7 percent. Facebook over that same period barely registers as a way to make a sale, and the tiny percentage of people who do connect and buy over Facebook has stayed flat. Twitter, meanwhile, doesn’t register at all. By far the most popular way to get customers was “organic search,” according to the report, followed by “cost per click” ads (in both cases, read: Google).

via Email Is Crushing Twitter, Facebook for Selling Stuff Online | Wired Business | Wired.com.

Not surprisingly, this assault on government spending and employment will have real consequences for the economy and job creation. All of this takes us back to the starting point — we are talking policy here. Whose interests are served by these trends? via The Austerity Agenda and Public Employment » Sociological Images.

Shrinking the federal workforce does not necessarily save money but it can degrade government services to the public, a coalition of federal employee professional associations has said.

via Federal downsizing can degrade services, workers coalition says.